The spayed cat look is all the rage - says Ali Gordon

I suppose the truth of it was that things were going too well.

Trans-Siberian - wonderful
Beijing - busy but great
Great Wall of China - delightful
Journey down to ancient walled city of Pingyao - tricky but mission accomplished
Pingyao itself charming

Everything was more or less going to plan.  I blame Lesley and John.  Well, when you consider on previous trips they have racked up the following calamities:-

1 stroke (2004)
2 near misses with rabies (2003)
A very nasty incident with a happy pizza (2004)
An unsolicited visit to a poor Vietnamese family who only wanted to have their Sunday lunch in peace (2004)
Infected leg and foot (2006)
Smashed face and glasses (2009)

I won't go on but you can see that these people have got previous in terms of catastrophes and disasters.  Nevertheless, as I said, things had gone to plan.  To be frank with you I was therefore off my guard.

We'd been having such a lovely day exploring this idyllic 800 year old walled city.  But we'd had enough of temples and ancient family homes so we thought we'd break the day up with some of the more mundane aspects of life.

As you know I like to run a tidy ship and I am very particular about my appearance.  I've been away now for one month and after a very lovely but not overly hygienic stay on the Trans-Siberian railway it was time to get my hair cut so that I could face the rest of China looking my ravishing best.

What could be simpler?  For me a trip to the hairdresser does not involve a six hour visit with complex treatments.  Furthermore you really cannot go wrong with a set of clippers and a No. 1 all over. Can you?

When we entered the shop a group of local youths came in too - to have a gawk at the 3 Westerners. I sat down pointed to the clippers made the sign (I thought) for number 1 all over.  The young man with the clippers in his hand started off at a quick lick.  Before I could shout "Shear me a sheep Bruce" I had been shaved completely bald down one side of my head.  I looked around for some commiserations from my companions.  Pah!!  All I could detect from the back of the shop was vulgar laughter and unsupportive sniggering.  Come to think of it, all the staff in the shop and their mates were having a good laugh too.

Many photos were taken.

What to do now?  Shave the whole lot and be bald for 3 - 4 weeks or go around looking like I'd had a serious operation on my brain - not too far from the truth really.  I went for the latter hoping for the sympathy vote.  Before the haircut a lot of people were staring, now they are staring and laughing.

Lesley was next under the knife..... er, I mean clippers. Oh dear he did not know when to stop cuttung. Strange she hasn't taken her hat off all day today.  John sat down last and came out with a perfectly normal haircut.

Consequently, whilst Lesley's is a tad short and John's perfectly normal, I have been left looking like the last sheep at the end of the shearing contest!!

And you can keep your comments to yourself about what I look like thank you very much!